What exactly does DOMA Section 3 do?
Section 3 of DOMA trumps a state’s determination that a same-sex couple is married and says that they are not married for purposes of all federal laws and programs. Under this law, “the word ‘marriage’ means only the legal union of a man and a woman as husband and wife, and the word ‘spouse’ refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife.” It requires all federal departments and agencies to disrespect the valid state-licensed marriages of same-sex couples but not marriages of other couples.
